Stripe Smart Retries
Stripe Smart Retries vs decline-based retries
What Stripe's built-in retries do, what they leave to you, and where planning around the decline reason recovers more.
What Smart Retries does
Smart Retries is Stripe Billing's retry engine for failed subscription invoices. In Stripe's words, it uses AI to choose "the best times to retry failed payment attempts", based on signals such as how many devices have used the card recently and the time of day. You set a policy of a number of tries within a window of 1 week up to 2 months; Stripe recommends 8 tries within 2 weeks. Stripe also lets you build a custom schedule instead (up to three retries at fixed day intervals).
It's a good default, and for many failures it works. Its limits show up in how it treats the decline reason.
What it leaves to you
- Hard declines wait for you. For codes like lost_card, stolen_card, pickup_card and authentication_required, Stripe keeps scheduling retries but only executes them after a new payment method appears. Getting that new card or confirmation from the customer is up to your emails.
- Expired cards aren't a hard decline. expired_card isn't on Stripe's hard-decline list, so scheduled retries keep trying a card that can't work.
- Emails are generic and optional. Stripe can email the customer after each failed payment, before a card expires and when a payment needs confirming, once you turn those emails on. They aren't written per decline reason.
- Payment method order matters. Stripe retries the subscription's default payment method first. If a customer updates only the customer-level default, Stripe keeps retrying the old card on the subscription.
Per decline reason, side by side
When retries run out
After the last attempt in your policy, Stripe makes no further payment attempts. What happens to the subscription is your choice: cancel it, mark it unpaid (new invoices stay as drafts), leave it past due (new invoices keep being charged), or pause it. If you see a "retries exceeded" style status in your tools, this is the moment it describes: the schedule is used up and only a new card or a manual retry can still collect the invoice.
Decline codes are explained one by one in our decline code library, and how LastRetry works shows the whole flow.
Stripe facts from Stripe's documentation, checked October 3, 2026. Stripe changes its products; check the Smart Retries docs for the current behaviour.
Questions about Stripe retries
How many times will Stripe retry a failed payment?
As many times as your retry policy says. With Smart Retries you choose a number of tries within 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 1 month or 2 months; Stripe's recommended default is 8 tries within 2 weeks. A custom schedule allows up to three retries at set day intervals. For card charges that permit retries, Stripe recommends no more than eight.
Can I retry a failed payment on Stripe?
Yes. Stripe Billing retries failed invoice payments on your Smart Retries or custom schedule, and you can retry an open invoice manually from the Dashboard or the API. Stripe won't automatically retry hard declines (for example lost or stolen cards, or authentication_required) until a new payment method is added.
Will a declined payment try again?
On Stripe Billing, a failed subscription invoice is retried automatically on your Smart Retries or custom schedule, unless the decline is a hard one (such as a lost or stolen card or authentication_required). Those wait until the customer adds a new payment method. A one-off charge outside Billing isn't retried by itself.
What happens when a subscription payment fails?
The invoice stays open and the subscription usually becomes past due. Stripe then follows your retry policy and, if you turned them on, sends the customer emails. When retries run out, the subscription is cancelled, marked unpaid, left past due or paused, depending on your settings.
What happens when all Stripe retries fail?
After the final attempt Stripe makes no further payment attempts. The subscription then follows your setting: cancel it, mark it unpaid, leave it past due, or pause it if it's eligible. You can also mark the invoice uncollectible after 30, 60 or 90 days, or leave it past due.
Should I turn off Smart Retries if I use LastRetry?
Yes. Two systems retrying the same card burns attempts and can count against you with card networks. Turn off Stripe's automatic retries and its failed-payment emails, keep the subscription past due when retries end, and leave the invoice open. LastRetry's setup page walks you through it and warns you if it sees Stripe still retrying.
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